Writin' the bady

Well, there's not a whole lot to report this week. Due to getting sick, I was not able to write as much as weeks past, but I was still able to make some progress. I've now made it to page forty. The new challenge this week was the addition of a mayor character: the villainous police chief Wilber Oswald! I was able to get into a pretty good rhythm with my three main characters, and their individual voices and how they talk. I was back to square one however with a new character. Although I had done a very detailed character break down, ensuring that this character has a unique voice and that his scenes build on one another still proved to be a challenge. The basic idea that I had initially for the character was someone who has been pushed his whole life to find his passion and make a name for himself by his mother. The problem is, he is now in his 50's and still has never been able to do either of those things. As such, he is constantly whining and ever searching for his illusive passion. Where the film starts, he has had just about enough of failing to find a job or make an arrest that is grand enough for him. Consequently, he begins to fool himself into believing that the bank robbery our heroes were responsible for is much grander than the facts show. I felt these character traits would make for a very fun villain but I still was not finding an specific voice that I liked. The break through came when I was watching my favorite Television Show: Battlestar Galactica. In the show, one of the characters (Gaius Baltar) is a particularly slimy character. He is only ever looking to help himself out no matter what the cost. He lives with the terrible things that he has done through an acute ability for self deception. No matter what he's done he is able to live with it by convincing himself that he was either forced, or that he really had no control over his actions. The results are both funny and despicable. With this character in mind, I feel I have been able to find a very unique and fun voice for my villain. Until next time, good night and good luck!